Arsenal striker Theo Walcott thinks that manager Arsene Wenger sometimes takes criticism that should be levelled at the players instead.

The Gunners boss has been blamed by many for the recent back-to-back home defeats to Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup and Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

However, Walcott feels that the players must shoulder some of the responsibility for the losses that dumped them out of the FA Cup and left their Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

"If we don't perform he always takes it back on himself, but at times it is not fair because we are the players that go out there and do it," Walcott told the club's official magazine.

"He definitely lets us know when we are not performing, though, which is the right way to do it."

Walcott signed a new deal with the Gunners in January.